Festival focus on youth mental health
Events featuring dance, music, poetry, virtual reality and short films all made by young people will take place this weekend as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival.
The festival takes place in May this year and for the first time, it has included a Youth Mental Health Arts Festival into the Renfrewshire programme.
A series of events, designed and organised by a group of young people from Create Paisley, will take place this Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Paisley Arts Centre.
Maria Suarez, from Create Paisley, said:“These events are aimed at highlighting how art and culture can help young people to learn how to express themselves through a variety of mediums, be that music, dance, written word, art, film and digital technology.”
On Friday, there will be a creative showcase from 7pm till 9pm. It will feature dance, music, short films, stories and poetry from Jump Dance Crew, Prima School of Dance, Rachelle and Brittany Davies, Sophie Paterson, Kibble, Create Paisley and more.
On Saturday, there will be a number of organisations involved in youth work, arts and mental health, including Suzanne Baines, from You Matter Always, Theatre Nemo and Create Paisley, showing their work at #youngmindsmatter.
The event runs from noon till 4pm.
Also on Saturday, Paisley YMCA will lead an event called Well Digital from 1pm till 3pm.
You can try out the latest digital tools and technology, learn some new ways to express yourself and even play around with virtual reality and expressing your emotions through emoticons.
Then, from 4pm till 6pm, the arts centre will have a screening of Disney Pixar’s award-winning movie Inside Out.
On Sunday, there will be a youth film competition running from 4pm till 6pm, which will feature films from young people on the theme of beginnings or mental health. The winning entries from young people across Scotland will be screened with the winner and runner-up chosen and awarded prizes and ongoing support.
Then, from 7pm till 9.30pm, there will be a performance of Amy Conway’s Super Awesome World, the autobiographical show about video games that invites the audience to join Amy as allies in her fight against depression.
To book tickets or find out more, phone the box office on 0300 300 1210 or go to https://boxoffice. renfrewshire.gov.uk